The Barron Blog

Sunday, 10 May 2009

My Favourite Star Trek Movie: Generations

Star Trek often deals with troublesome subjects that other movies or TV series gloss over. Do you remember the superbeing who committed genocide in STNG's "The Survivors"? The problem with Data's human-like sentience in "Measure of A Man"? The difficulties with eternal life in the Q Continuum (e.g. "Death Wish"?).
The big ideas in Generations are time (friend or foe) and the actual existence of a timeless "Heaven"(i.e The Nexus). These are along the lines of Star Trek's basic theme of "going where no one has gone".
The other themes in the movie are dealing with the loss of family members, realizing one's dreams and making a difference.
Perhaps, the complexity of the story and its subplots was too difficult for some to understand.
Personally, I enjoyed the multi-layered story and its many moving moments like the death of Kirk (twice), Picard seeing his dreams come true in the Nexus and an emotional Data finding his cat alive on board the destroyed Enterprise.
The Nexus obsessed villain, Sorrin, has the most memorable quote in the film: "Time is the fire that we all live in". Four stars.

Posted by qualteam at 3:07 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 10 May 2009 10:56 PM EDT

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Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Top Ten Ways To Reduce Stress At Work
Mood: party time!

1. Play with your pet monkey when the office flirt walks by.
2. Do tongue exercises in front of the boss.
3. Do suggestive things with your hands and face.
4. Pretend you're a retard during work hours.
5. Don't answer questions from fellow employees. Use facial expressions.
6. Pretend to be a real funny guy at the water cooler.
7. Introduce yourself to new female employees in an unusual way.
8. Tell people you suffer from some strange social disease.
9. Tell others, you can put your finger up your butt and whistle Dixie at the same time.
10. Tell your buddies how psychiatric drugs really make you feel better. They should take them too.

Posted by qualteam at 11:10 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 7 May 2009 12:41 AM EDT

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Sunday, 3 May 2009

Movie Review 130: Star Trek V The Final Frontier

This has to be the most underrated Star Trek Movie of all time. The search for God and Heaven finally make it to a Trek film. You couldn't ask for a higher concept than that.
A big critic of this film called it "one of the weirdest Trek flicks, with all the good and bad that goes with that".
I must point out that encounters with "godlike beings" have happened many times in the Star Trek Universe. It's all part of the theme of "going where no one has gone before".
The cult leader/bad guy, Sybok, who wins over many followers is both a complicated and charismatic person. With Christ-like abilities, he is able to feel someone's else pain. When he takes over the Enterprise, most of the crew willingly follow him.
All of the Star Trek movies are being shown on "The Space Channel" and I watched this one a few nights ago.
The biggest knock against the flick could be the special effects. It just didn't measure up to other features and a better "heaven" could have been created for the end of Sybok's quest.
This was the last film the original crew made together and the camaraderie was great between Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
Despite the critics, this movie is well worth a view or two. Three Stars.

Posted by qualteam at 10:28 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 3 May 2009 4:05 PM EDT

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Thursday, 30 April 2009

North American Stock Markets Have Hit Bottom And....

They've started to climb again. Over the last two months, the TSX (Toronto Exchange) is up 25% from its bottom in eary March.
From my investments in "The Royal Bank of Canada" and "Mercator Minerals", I made a $400 profit in a month. True, that isn't much, but I didn't have much to invest.
A few weeks ago, I took my profits because I expected a market correction after the run up. That didn't happen.
It appears that the markets may go sideways (no gain or loss) for the next few months.
A leading indicator that things have turned around is the price of copper which is up quite a bit from its lows during the winter.
Even if stocks don't take off over the next few months, Canadian banks are still a good buy as well as Canadian mining companies like Mercator Minerals. It is listed as a strong buy in the Globe and Mail.

Posted by qualteam at 10:53 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 30 April 2009 11:23 PM EDT

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Saturday, 25 April 2009

My Updated Resume

Since I joined the ranks of the unemployed, I, recently, updated my resume. I've worked at many jobs in my life, but I only mentioned the ones that were interesting.
Here's the short list:
My first job was working in a fruit juice factory, but I got canned. I couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.
Next, I tried working in a muffler factory, but that was too exhausting.
Next was a job in a shoe factory, but I didn't fit in.
I went to Newfoundland and worked as a fisherman, but I discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
Back in Brampton, I managed to get a good job in a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.
So I got a job in a workout centre, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of taking college courses and trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a historian, until I realized there was no future in it.
My last job was working at Canada Post, but I had to quit because I was starting to go "POSTAL".
So, I tried retirement and found that I'm perfect for that job! Yabba Dabba Doooo!

Posted by qualteam at 11:14 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 26 April 2009 2:08 AM EDT

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Wednesday, 22 April 2009

An Excellent Retirement Project

The above picture is my buddy's house that he's building on lakefront property near Parry Sound.
Isn't it great to have this as your retirement project? Not only does it require a lot of money, but building skills as well.
I was there yesterday and videotaped a "ten cent tour" of the place. The walls and pine ceilings are finished.
The owner, a retired postie, has invited fellow employees from "The Toronto Exchange Office" for a party sometime in the summer when it's finished.
I burned a few DVD copies from the Camcorder tape to show posties "The Great White North" in Muskoka.
Actually, it's spring, right now, and the snow around the house has gone.
Take a trip up highway 69 to God's country in Ontario.
In the summer, this place will become like "Indian Lake".

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Posted by qualteam at 9:31 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 23 April 2009 5:30 PM EDT

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Saturday, 18 April 2009

My History With Canada Post and CUPW (Union)

Christmas was one of my happiest times while working at the Post Office. I felt like an elf delivering Santa's gifts through the mail.
In the picture above, retired postie elves write back to kids who sent letters to Santa Claus: North Pole Canada H0H 0H0. I might volunteer for that position this year.
It would be very difficult to compress my 35 year history with Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers into a few blog entries, so I created a website to detail my experiences. This site can be found at www.cupw.info. There's lots of great songs on these webpages too.
I was fortunate to have a good job at Canada Post without any layoffs. It's one of the top employers in Canada and despite the market downturn the pension plan is still well funded.

Posted by qualteam at 9:55 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 19 April 2009 12:31 PM EDT

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Friday, 17 April 2009

The Inspirational Event Of The Year

After the recession, the unemployment, the probable bankruptcies of GM/Chrysler and other depressing economic news, it was refreshing to hear Susan Boyle's rendition of "I dream a dream". She put so much feeling into the song that it brought me to tears.
Again, this demonstrates that we shouldn't judge others by their appearance. This also demonstrates the power of the internet to connect us to "talented plain Janes" like Susan.
We've come through a time when overrated incompetent CEOs received incredible bonuses. It's great that an underdog like Susan is getting recognition after years of karaoke singing.
The above tune "Cry Me A River" was taken from Susan's charity CD. I look forward to hearing her sing more great songs.

Posted by qualteam at 5:58 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 17 April 2009 6:05 PM EDT

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Tuesday, 14 April 2009

History Of The Kingdom

This Kingdom could also be called "The Christ Continuum". More or less, it resembled "The Q Continuum", but with the humanitarian objective to protect and free weaker beings in this galaxy.
It operates on a higher spiritual level than "The Galactic Federation" and is not answerable to its leaders.
While the Galactic Federation operates in the old space/time/energy of the old universe, the Christ Continuum operates under new rules in a New Universe. Since Federation people are "out of phase", with the Kingdom, they're probably not aware of its existence.
The Kingdom can be divided into two time periods: Foundation One (The Beginning of the Universe to 33 A.D) and Foundation Two (33 A.D to Present Time and Beyond).
In Foundation One, large amounts of matter were compressed into a very small space. This happened because the original universe had very little space, energy or time connected with it. The need for more space to place huge objects created "The Big Bang".
Foundation Two was created from the hopes and dreams of children. Some creations are listed in "A Vision Of The Kingdom".
While everybody and everything seemed to be very old in Foundation One, In Foundation Two, you would be hard pressed to find someone who was older than a teenager.
In the former, there was no high technology because everything was suppose to be done by high voltage spiritual power. A difficult task for most of the Brotherhood.
In the latter, high tech was the name of the game and the Continuum moved into its "Star Trek Period".
Schools were established to make believers into powerful sons of God. Some passed. Some failed.
Two recent projects over the last thousand years were "Graceworld" and "The Memory Restoration Project". They are still running today.
There are also top secret projects that I can't mention in this space.

Posted by qualteam at 10:54 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 15 April 2009 9:46 AM EDT

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Sunday, 12 April 2009

Deliver Us From All Kinds Of Evil

The above title is my variation on "Deliver us from evil" from "The Lord's Prayer".
As well as accidents, diseases, criminal assaults and delusions, today, we also need protection from nuclear warfare, terrorists, alien abductions, and severe economic downturns.
Individuals are vulnerable to evil activities outside of their own sphere of control. We need divine protection from negative forces great and small that could take our life or cause us and our families extreme physical and mental distress.
Christian stewardship is one way to exert influence over a larger area than ourselves and family.
I would like to wish every reader an inspirational Easter in celebration of the Resurrected Life of Christ.
The old universe was dominated by the life cycle from "birth to death". In "The New Universe" it's in reverse: "from death to life". "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall be made alive".

Posted by qualteam at 11:05 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 12 April 2009 12:39 PM EDT

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